A former government chief-of-staff has been found guilty of abusing the
country’s military intelligence

Chief-of-staff to the former prime minister Petr Nečas, Jana Nagyová, has
been found guilty of abusing the country’s military intelligence. A
Prague court handed her a 12 month suspended sentence and a four year ban
on working in public service. Ms.Nagyová, who recently married the former
prime minister, commissioned the intelligence service to spy on his wife in
a scandal that brought down the centre-right government in June of last
year. The state attorney on the case has said he will appeal the decision.

Minister Babiš under fire for shake-up on boards of state companies

Finance Minister Andrej Babiš has come under fire for effecting a shake-up
on the supervisory boards of state-run companies such as ČEZ, Český
aeroholding, Mero and Čepro. The Christian Democrats of the ruling
coalition have criticized the fact that they were not consulted about the
extensive personnel changes while the opposition parties accuse the
minister of handing out lucrative posts to his friends. The finance
minister has rejected the accusations, saying he had replaced political
figures with experts in the field.

The Czech Republic and Saxony will intensify cooperation in fighting
cross-border crime, Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said at a press
briefing on Monday following a meeting with his Saxony counterpart Markus
Ulbig. The talks focused particularly on ways of curbing drug smuggling
from the Czech Republic to Germany which has been a growing problem in
recent years. There is a growing demand for the home-made drug crystal
methamphetamine across the border; while in 2011 customs officials
confiscated 3 kilos of the drug, in 2013 the amount rose to 14 kilograms.
Drug law enforcement experts estimate that around six tons of the illegal
drug is produced in home labs annually.

Trial begins of close advisor to former prime minister accused of
soliciting huge bribe

The Prague Municipal Court will on Monday begin the trial of Marek Dalík,
who is accused of soliciting a bribe of EUR 18 million in 2007 while he was
a close advisor to then prime minister Mirek Topolánek. The so-called
lobbyist stands accused of demanding the kickback from Austrian armaments
firm Steyr to secure a Czech government deal to buy armoured vehicles. If
found guilty of attempted fraud, Mr. Dalík, who had no formal state post,
could face up to 10 years in prison.

An electronic register of public buildings and office space which cost
millions of crowns to set up is incomplete and practically unusable,
according to the Supreme Audit Office. The system which was to bring
greater transparency and order into the use of public buildings and save
money on rented offices is not only incomplete, since many public
institutions failed to deliver the respective information, but unreliable
since offices which are obviously vacant have been listed as being used,
the Supreme Audit Office reports. The deadline for providing the respective
information was June of 2013 and many public institutions have failed to
deliver it to date.

Ukrainian injured in Maidan clashes dies in the Czech Republic

A fifty-three-year-old Ukrainian national who was critically injured during
the clashes on Maidan square in February has died in the Czech Republic.
Jurij Sydorchuk was transported to Prague in a coma along with a group of
other Ukrainians in need of medical care. He never came out of the coma and
in view of the serious brain damage he suffered doctors predicted that his
chances of recovery were slim. According to the Ukrainian embassy members
of his family have already arrived in the Czech Republic to repatriate his
body. All expenses are being covered within the MEDEVAC humanitarian aid
programme.

June proves tragic month on Czech roads

Sixty-six people died on Czech roads in the course of June, the highest
death toll in any single month this year, according to statistics released
by the traffic police on Monday. Despite a heightened police presence on
the roads ahead of the annual holiday rush the death toll is exceptionally
high, up by 29 deaths as compared to last June. 277 people were reported
seriously injured in car accidents over the same period.

Brno church gets new organ to replace original destroyed in WWII

A church in central Brno has been fitted with a new organ, decades after
its original instrument was destroyed by a World War II bomb. The organ at
the Church of the Assumption cost CZK 35 million and is described as one of
the best and most modern in the Czech Republic. Speaking after it was
blessed and ceremonially handed over on Sunday, Jan Martin Bejček of the
Campianus foundation said the organ should serve the church's
congregation for 200 years.

Police called to investigate circle in wheat field

Police are investigating the appearance of a circle in a wheat field near
the town of Boskovice, after local farmers reported extensive damage to
their crop. The police say it must have taken several people to make the
intricate formation – a circle with an embedded star - overnight. The
circle formations in crop fields are a regular summer occurrence which draw
sightseers and conspiracy lovers, but farmers are increasingly protesting
at the damage done to private property.

Czechs guaranteed Wimbledon women’s semifinalist

Three Czech players excelled in the women’s singles at Wimbledon on
Monday, all making it to the quarterfinals. Lucie Šafářová beat her
compatriot Tereza Smitková 6:0, 6:2 securing a place in the quarterfinals
for the first time in her sporting career, Petra Kvitová beat China’s
Peng Shuai 6:3, 6:2, and Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová defeated
Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki 6:2, 7:5. The Czech winning streak means
that the country is certain to have at least one semifinalist.